Tag Archives | Barack Obama

Rock festival groove Photo: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times 4/17/10 Music lovers groove to the beat at the huge Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival up in the Riverside County desert community of Indio today. The Los Angeles Times is reporting record-breaking crowds of 75,000 a day since the festival kicked-off on Friday, which included performances by Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Legendary rocker Sly Stone is scheduled to play the festival on Sunday. A notorious no-show, folks are wondering if Stone will make an appearance. Some of the other performers have been delayed or had to cancel... Read More →

Photo: file picture of the White House A few minutes ago, I got an e-mail from President Barack Obama about the Nobel Peace Prize. I’m on an e-mail list handled by the Democratic National Committee. Here is the president’s e-mail, which is similar in tone and text to his comments earlier at the White House. This morning, Michelle and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. At 6 a.m., we received word that I’d been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. To be honest, I do... Read More →

Here we go again, another President Obama controversy. This morning, the Norwegian Nobel Committee surprised many by announcing Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Obama has been in office less than a year and while dealing with huge domestic problems, he’s managed to confront some major global issues as well. The Nobel Committee noted Obama’s international impact in its press release today. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 The Norwegian Nobel Committeehas decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded... Read More →

Photo: Chuck Kennedy/White House A special ceremony at the White House last night honored 16 super achievers with the nation’s highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom. In the photo above, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson congratulates fellow medal recipient, Actor Sidney Poitier. The other medal winners included Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Scientist Stephen Hawking, Tennis Star Billie Jean King, Entertainer Chita Rivera, and Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. In his remarks, President Obama praised the medal winners for their incredible achievements: “The recipients of the Medal of Freedom... Read More →

Photo: Jason Reed/Reuters Judgment Day turned into a shining moment for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Today Judge Sotomayor won confirmation from the U.S. Senate on a sweeping 68-31 vote. Nine Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the 55-year-old federal appeals court judge. Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic and only the third female to sit on the nation’s highest court. Republican opponents insisted Sotomayor was too liberal. Supporters defended her as an impartial jurist who would be an asset to the U.S. Supreme Court. In his remarks after the confirmation, President Obama praised his... Read More →

Photo: Pete Souza/White House The photo above is from The White House blog and it shows President Barack Obama leading the way to the rose garden for the so-called beer summit last Thursday. Behind the president, Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Sergeant James Crowley helps Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. navigate the White House steps. A polite gesture that says a lot about how far the relationship between the two men has come in two weeks. On July 16, Sgt. Crowley answered a call of a suspected burglary at a Cambridge... Read More →

Photo: Pete Souza/The White House —President Obama and First Lady Michelle greet White House guests Today the White House blog posted photos of the bang-up Fourth of July celebration at the White House. President Barack Obama and wife Michelle shared their festivities with military personnel and their families. In the above photo, the Obamas greet some of the enthusiastic party guests. Photo: Pete Souza/The White House —First couple watch the fireworks show over the National Mall. The White House Fourth blow-out was in honor of... Read More →

Photo: Pete Souza/the White House Last Friday, President Obama met with a very special group of visitors at the White House. The guests and their canine companions were from the Helen Keller National Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The center offers intensive rehabilitation training for deaf-blind youngsters and adults. The five students, two staffers, and three volunteers from the center were on tour in Washington, DC. Last week was Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness week. The Helen Keller National Center was established in the late 1960s by Congress. Helen Keller, a deaf and blind... Read More →

Photo (1980): Lisa Jack — from the Los Angeles Times In 1980, Occidental College student Lisa Jack got very, very lucky. A bright handsome freshman named Barry Obama agreed to a photo session for one of Jack’s class assignments. The session produced 36 shots of a cool, youthful Obama. The photo above shows Obama wearing a bomber-style jacket with swirls of smoke from his cigarette floating around him. Years later, President Barack Obama apparently has dumped the smoking thing; ah, no matter, he’s still pretty cool without it. Obama spent his first two... Read More →

Photo: FLLewis/A Writer’s Groove — Burbank The economy is still struggling. Job layoffs by the thousands continue. Gasoline prices at the pumps are up. On Thursday, May 21, I paid $2.60 a gallon at a gas station in Burbank. A month ago at the same station, I paid $2.30 a gallon. And food prices are still outrageously high; why is that the case? On the plus side, President Obama signed sweeping credit card reform into law yesterday. You can still catch a flick for around 10 bucks or so. Some... Read More →

Photo: Lawrence Jackson/White House — President Obama shares a fistbump with a proud young graduating Midshipman at the U.S. Navy Academy commencement today. President Obama kicked off the long Memorial Day holiday weekend today with a speech to the graduating class of 2009 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland: “After an era when so many institutions and individuals acted with such greed and recklessness, it’s no wonder that our military remains the most trusted institution in our nation. (Applause) And in a world when so many forces and... Read More →

Photo: Pete Souza/White House Talking about a long distance call. President Obama chatted with the crew on board the space shuttle Atlantis late yesterday. The crew got Wednesday off to rest and relax, after completing five spacewalks and numerous repairs and upgrades on the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the fifth and final tune-up for Hubble. The president spoke with Atlantis Commander Scott Altman, while the rest of the crew listened in. President Obama: “I wanted to personally tell you how proud I am of all of... Read More →

Photo: Chuck Kennedy/White House Spectators at a town hall meeting in Rancho Rio, New Mexico yesterday eagerly reach out to shake President Obama’s hand or to snap a photo of the Commander-in-Chief. At the meeting, inside a packed high school gym, the president recounted some horror stories of abuse by credit card companies who have been jacking up rates and raising fees on struggling Americans during these tough economic times. Obama said, “Enough is enough. It’s time for strong, reliable protections for our consumers. It’s time for reform... Read More →

Photo: Samantha Appleton/White House First Lady Michelle Obama shared a group hug with some students during a Cinco de Mayo celebration on Monday, May 4, at the Latin American Montessori Bilingual Charter School in Washington, D.C. Later that evening at a White House Cinco de Mayo event attended by Mexican Ambassador Arturo Saruklan, President Obama spoke about the significance of the holiday: “Nearly 150 years ago, a ragtag band of soldiers and citizens, badly outnumbered and facing impossible odds, held their ground on a muddy hill to defend their nation from what... Read More →

Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters President Obama is making good on a campaign promise to overhaul the tax system. Today the president took aim at some loopholes in the tax code and the wealthy individuals and corporations that use them to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. At the White House, the president announced steps to crack down on overseas tax havens and to create more incentives for U.S. companies to keep jobs here at home: “It’s a down payment on the larger tax reform we need to make... Read More →

President Obama has a new challenge to deal in the next 100 days of his administration; a previously unknown flu virus, which has the potential to kill. Last Wednesday night, the president highlighted efforts being made to handle the two wars, the bad economy, and other problems inherited from the Bush years. The president said: “I am pleased with our progress, but I am not satisfied.” Now we have to add to the country’s list of problems a health issue: a new strain of the swine flu or... Read More →

Photo: Samantha Appleton/White House First Lady Michelle Obama had another chat with a queen a few days ago. Mrs. Obama held a get together with Jordan’s Queen Rania in the White House Yellow Oval Room on Thursday, April 23, 2009. Also this week, Jordan’s King Abdullah met with President Obama. Earlier this month, the first lady and the president had a meet and greet with Great Britian’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace in London.

Photo: Pete Souza/White House President Barack Obama spent part of Earth Day in Newton, Iowa touring a wind tower production facility. In his Earth Day speech, the president described a major challenge facing our nation: “Now, the choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy. We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc across... Read More →

Photos: Pete Souza/White House Today President Barack Obama visited Mexico. On his arrival, President Obama received a warm welcome from some of its citizens and Mexican President Felipe Calderon. During the welcoming ceremony, Obama made a pledge: “At a time when the Mexican government has so courageously taken on the drug cartels that have plagued both sides of the borders, it is absolutely critical that the United States joins as a full partner in dealing with this issue…” The White House Blog Later after their meeting,... Read More →

Photo: Chuck Kennedy/White House President Barack Obama and the first family enjoyed a White House tradition with thousands of families from 45 states yesterday. The Easter Egg Roll is a rite of spring event at the White House that dates back to 1878. The theme of this year’s event was “Let’s Go Play.” Tickets were required and had a time limit of two hours. I guess you have those kinds of restrictions when you expected as many as 30,000 families to show up. It was a busy day for... Read More →

Photos: Pete Souza/White House President Barack Obama has fulfilled a campaign promise to his daughters Malia and Sasha; they finally got the dog they had been hoping and wishing for and quickly named him Bo. The six-month-old Portuguese water dog is a gift from Senator Edward M. Kennedy who has several Porties. For a while there, Bo was the best kept secret in Washington, D.C. An official debut was set for Tuesday, but word of the new first pet leaked out, according to The Washington Post. I gotta gush a bit here. Bo... Read More →

Photos: Pete Souza/White House President Barack Obama paid a surprise visit to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq yesterday, before ending his eight-day foreign trip and returning to the White House early this morning. The president met with U.S. military commanders and Iraqi leaders for an update on the war situation. Then Obama got a wild and enthusiastic greeting from the troops, which included handshakes and even a fist-bump. Also, the president awarded the Purple Heart medal to several brave U.S. soldiers. The president addressed the... Read More →

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Political Beat -- Burbank Elections 2017

Letter: Sharon Springer expresses gratitude for campaign supportDear Burbank Community: I would like to thank our Burbank community for electing me to city council. Thank you for opening your doors when we knocked; thank you for talking with us outside grocery stores, and schools. Thank you for tolerating my morning campaign runs. Thank you for hosting my bright pink signs, your financial contributions and your word of mouth endorsements. Thanks to my campaign chair person, Elaine Paonessa, and my well-organized, relentless volunteers for their inspiration, support and belief in me. Thanks to my organizational endorsements, family, friends... Read More →

Letter: Burbank Councilman Bob Frutos offers thanks for support A heartfelt thank you message to Burbank residents: I am grateful to have received your strong support and your vote in this general election. Many of you were there for me four years ago in 2013 and you have shown your trust in me again today. Heartfelt thank you for your vote to get re-elected to the Burbank City Council. Four years ago, I pledged to you my commitment towards working for you and for our city. Today, I am more committed and dedicated to continue to work tirelessly... Read More →

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Food Groove

Burbank Wood Ranch restaurant opens todayBurbank Wood Ranch restaurant opens today. They’re firing up the grill at this much-anticipated eatery in Downtown Burbank for dinner. It’s located at 110 North 1st Street — the old Elephant Bar site. “As a Burbank native, I am excited to return home and bring our award-winning dining experience to this community,”said General Manager Michael Gallagher in a news release. “We look forward to meeting our neighbors and being a part of many summer barbeques to come.” Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill is known for its high-quality smoked and grilled dishes. Some... Read More →

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City Buzz Columns

City Buzz: Troubled times for Magnolia Park business districtTroubled times for Magnolia Park business district again. The sometimes quirky, sometimes funky, but definitely unique business sector stretches from North Clybourn Avenue to North Victory Boulevard on Magnolia Boulevard and West Chandler Boulevard to Clark Avenue on Hollywood Way. Much of the action is concentrated on Magnolia. The collection of vintage shops, eateries, one-of-a-kind emporiums, and small businesses on the boulevard has a certain appeal and sense of hip cool, which really cannot be explained. It just is. Nevertheless, the evolution from a sleepy boulevard to what it is... Read More →

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Shout-outs and Call-outs

Shout-out to twin authors honored for book about BurbankA shout-out to twin authors honored for a book about Burbank. , Erin K. Schonauer and Jamie C. Schonauer, identical twins, are a successful writing team. Back in April of 2014, their book, “Early Burbank,” was published. Subsequently, the Schonauers held a book signing here in Burbank, at the Buena Vista Library. The event was covered by Media City Groove. “Early Burbank”, as you might have guessed, is about the early beginnings of the Media City. Today, the twins are being feted at a reception where they will pick up the... Read More →